Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Scattershot thoughts.

-Andy and I had lunch at Boston's Wednesday. At a near table sat the coaching firm of Davis, Davis, & Davis. Keno, Chris, and Rodell are all headed to Providence soon, though Keno did tell us he'll be here next weekend for the Coaches vs. Cancer event at Prairie Meadows (a first class follow-through). The conversation we had was cordial, though slightly awkward---kind of like when you run into an old girlfriend or boyfriend at the mall. Not sure if Keno thought Andy was too hard on him on SoundOff, but I suspect Keno knows Andy was speaking from the heart (and the hurt).

-How much better off would Roger Clemens be if he'd just retired one of the first few times he said he would? The man's baseball reputation is ruined, and now his "family man" rep doesn't look too good either. I feel for his wife and kids.

-The Iowa Barnstormers know who they're entertaining, and how to entertain them. We had a blast at the most recent game, and I think the crowds will stay at or near the 10,000 mark. I won't be checking the standings, or playing af2 fantasy football, but for a night out, it's fun and affordable (if you don't drink too much). Can you guess the #1 complaint the Barnstormers had after their first home game? Drunk fans shouting profanity. That was not a problem in our section for game two.

-I've had the opportunity to talk with some of the folks now running the artists formerly known as the Iowa Stars, and I'm impressed. They have a mess to clean-up from the often clueless decisions of their predecessors, but the new affiliate, name, and logo give these nice folks a chance to learn from those mistakes, and do it right (see Barnstormers, I-Cubs, Bucs... in other words, know your customers). I wish them well. The Stormers had Wells Fargo rocking last weekend, so now we know it's possible. The Stars problem has always been atmosphere, not hockey.

-One of the good guys in Iowa sports history, Jeff Clement, is back in the show with Seattle. I hope he's up for good this time.

-Casey Blake shaved that Forrest Gump beard. Good move.

-Does anyone think the Rev. Wright controversy is going away now that BarackObama has attacked some of the nonsense spewed by his former pastor? Me either.

-Josh Howard plays in the NBA and admits to smoking pot in the off-season? I'm shocked. Shocked!

-Larry Eustachy now admits he didn't really believe he was an alcoholic when he used that defense to save his job/settle for a lot of money. Many of us suspected that, but to Larry's surprise, he came to realize he actually was what he was pretending to be. Congratulations to Eustachy on five years of sobriety. I can't imagine we'll ever see Iowa State win back-to-back, outright Big 12 basketball titles again, so Cyclone fans should forever appreciate Eustachy's accomplishments, along with his embarrassments.

-I have one day off this week, and three Little League games on that day, but we're still heading straight from the ball fields to Ironman. The kids (and dad) can't wait.

-If you want to feel great about sports for a few minutes, check this out:

Congrats to Larry Eustachy. He may have had off-the-court issues, but he was still a great coach and didn't deserve the exit that the "ex/worst AD in ISU history" gave him. It looks like he's getting Southern Miss heading in the right direction.

anonymous("54 seconds of my life I won't get back)- Just remember- during the hard times, you know, when there were only two sets of footprints instead of three while rounding the bases of life- that's not when one of the softball girls left you. No. That's when both the softball girls carried you.